120 FIRST COUNTY PARK SYSTEM 
“Whatever other property the Essex County park commis- 
sioners may acquire, there is no question that they have 
acted wisely in securing Eagle Rock and the land about it. 
This is the show place of Essex County.’”’ On the same day 
The Daily Advertiser expressed this sentiment: “A county 
park system without Eagle Rock would be in the nature of 
an anomaly. That elevated point, overlooking an extensive 
and varied panorama of town, country and river, seems to 
have been destined by nature for a public breathing place.” 
An editorial in the New York Press of November 27 stated 
that “the acquirement of the far-famed Eagle Rock the 
other day for park purposes was a great thing for the peo- 
ple. From this giant knoll the homes of tens of thousands 
of New Jersey’s citizens can be plainly seen, and it is de- 
clared that it looks upon more homes and varied industries 
than any other natural elevation in the world.” 
And The Orange Chronicle of November 30 thus referred 
to the acquirement: “A more suitable or a more beautiful 
site for a park could not possibly be found. There is double 
reason for rejoicing at the announcement just made.” 
With the exception of opening roads through this reser- 
vation, some thinning of the natural growths and clearing 
in places the east brow of the cliff so as to open unobstructed 
views, little has been done in the way of improvement of 
this beautifully situated and densely wooded reservation, 
and it yet remains largely in the primitive state as of years 
gone by—a place to delight an Emerson, a Thoreau, or a 
Ruskin, and to charm any lover of nature who revels in 
her rugged and unintruded haunts. 
The estimated cost of this park in January, 1896, was for 
land acquirement, $202,775. The actual disbursements by 
January, 1901, were for land and buildings, $243,563. Up 
to the present time the total cost of the park, including the 
413 acres.of land, and the improvements, has been about 
$300,000. 
A FINE PARK SITE NOT CHOSEN. 
During the tours of inspection of the Orange Mountain 
by the first commission, in 1894, perhaps no one observation 
